Hannity Boards the Amnesty Train

Following the horror of the election outcome, an early amnesty shrieker was Sean Hannity, one of the loudest of the self-appointed exponents of conservatism.

“We’ve gotta get rid of the immigration issue altogether. It’s simple for me to fix it. I think you control the border first, you create a pathway for those people that are here, you don’t say you gotta go home. And that is a position that I’ve evolved on. Because you know what–it just–it’s gotta be resolved. The majority of people here–if some people have criminal records you can send’ em home–but if people are here, law-abiding, participating, four years, their kids are born here… first secure the border, pathway to citizenship… then it’s done. But you can’t let the problem continue. It’s gotta stop.”

● As Rush Limbaugh cited on Friday, Ronald Reagan got 37 percent of the hispanic vote in 1984, and then passed the big amnesty bill in 1986, forgiving three million illegal aliens. But in 1988, George Bush the elder got only 30 percent of the hispanic vote, so performing an amnesty didn’t help Republicans at all.

I’ve never claimed to be an expert on the principles of conservatism, but isn’t respect for law and sovereignty rather central? When bigmouth conservatives like Hannity and Charles Krauthammer (who recommended “amnesty with enforcement”) suggest that rewarding foreign lawbreakers would be a swell political strategy, it is morally underwhelming.

Furthermore, even a rudimentary understanding of psychology reveals that when you reward a behavior, you get more of it. The Reagan Amnesty was a major exercise in training foreigners that lawbreaking works, as shown by the influx of many millions post-1986 reasonably expecting the next relaxation of law and sovereignty.

Sadly, Hannity’s panic is reflected in many Beltway Repubs who are apparently reading the dinosaur media, like House Speaker Boehner who says he is open to some sort of immigration bill, presumably not enforcement centered.

President Barack Obama and Congress “need to come together to deliver change on immigration policy, and by that we mean … a roadmap to citizenship for our parents and communities,” said Cristina Jimenez, director of an advocacy group, United We Dream.

Jimenez was born in Ecuador and arrived in this country as an illegal immigrant.

“Deporting members of our community is irresponsible and unacceptable,” added Lorella Praeli, the group’s policy director.

Their demand is an opening salvo in a post-election campaign to persuade the House GOP to provide “a path to citizenship” for roughly 11 million illegal immigrants, most of whom are low-skill laborers who compete for jobs against low-skill Americans.

The amnesty goal is supported by many progressive groups, in part, because most Hispanics prefer generous welfare policies, and so usually vote for Democratic candidates.

In contrast, many Republican advocates and legislators favor high-skill immigration, partly because high-skilled workers spur the economy and lower unemployment.

“It is important for us to secure our borders and to enforce our laws. … [And] I’m confident that the president, myself, others, can find the common ground to take care of this issue once and for all,” Boehner told ABC on Thursday.

But the issue has been gridlocked because most GOP leaders prefer high-skill immigration, while most progressives believe that continued arrival of low-skill immigrants boosts their political power.

For example, the board of Jimenez’s group includes Josh Bernstein, the “immigration director” for the Service Employees International Union. That union’s membership has been boosted by the recruitment of many foreigners working without legal permission in the United States.

Polls show some support for amnesty, but other polls of working-class Americans in swing states show opposition.

Gov Mitt Romney lost the 2012 election, in part, because of low turnout by blue-collar workers in Ohio and other states.

The renewed advocacy for an national amnesty comes as the formal unemployment rate among Americans ticked up to 7.9 percent.

Roughly 23 million Americans are unemployed or underemployed. Many additional low-skill workers Americans are paid low wages because employers have many potential job-applicants.

In June, Obama announced a temporary amnesty for roughly 800,000 younger illegal-immigrants.

That move greatly boosted Obama’s political support among Latinos prior to the Nov. 6 election.

Under this so-called “Deferred Action” measure, up to 1.76 million illegal immigrants could get work permits, according to an estimate by the Migration Policy Institute.

Only 6 percent of the eligible illegals have college educations, the MPI estimated.

However, Obama’s June decision isn’t enough, said Sonia Martinez, another young illegal immigrant working with the United We Dream group.

“I’m undocumented [and Deferred Action] is really important for me and my daughter. … [But] we believe that Deferred Action is not enough for us,” she said.

Miscellaneous

Fair Use: This site contains copyrighted material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues related to culture and mass immigration. We believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information, see: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode17/usc_sec_17_00000107----000-.html. In order to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use", you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.